President Pasteur Bizimungu yesterday (Tuesday) pointed
out it was Europe's duty to help genocide survivors
because it had failed to stop the slaughter in 1994.
In a speech in the western prefecture of Kibuye to
commemorate the fourth anniversary of the genocide,
Bizimungu said Rwanda bore no grudge towards Europe.
"When we evoke the responsibility of some European
countries, we don't want confrontation," he said.
But, he added, Europe and the UN were "primarily
responsible for the type of chaos we have here".
"These people, victims of the atrocities...need
assistance and this is their right because Europe is
responsible for these atrocities." He said he
was pleased European countries were admitting their
role in the massacres, but noted that many genocide
suspects were still at large in Europe and appealed
that they be brought to book. During the genocide,
some 50,000 people were killed by Hutu extremists in
the hills at Bisesero, where yesterday's ceremony was
held.

French missiles downed Habyarimana's plane, expert says

A Belgian academic yesterday stated that French missiles
were responsible for bringing down the plane that killed
Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and his Burundi
counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira on 6 April 1994. AFP
said Philippe Reyntjens told a French parliamentary
investigation his information was based on military
sources from Belgium, Britain and the US. On Monday,
former French cooperation minister Bernard Debre had
alleged the missiles were from US stocks and had been
supplied by Uganda, a claim strongly denied by Kampala.
"France in principle knows, or has the ability
to know, who was behind the attack," Reyntjens
said.

TANZANIA: Interahamwe training camp reportedly set up

The Agence burundaise de presse reports that a camp
has been established in northwest Tanzania housing
mainly Interahamwe and ex-FAR refugees. The camp, situated
at Mbuba in the Rurenge area, reportedly houses some
1,200 such refugees who are undergoing paramilitary
training. They had been hiding in remote villages to
avoid returning home to Rwanda, ABP said. Humanitarian
sources recently told IRIN there were reports of a
new rebel group forming in Kibungo in southeast Rwanda.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Kabila visiting Ethiopia

President Laurent-Desire Kabila arrived in Addis Ababa
on a three-day visit to Ethiopia yesterday, Ethiopian
television reported. His Ethiopian counterpart Negaso
Gidada expressed his country's support for the revolution
in DRC, stressing that both countries had managed to
eliminate oppressive regimes. Kabila noted that DRC
had not received the expected response from the international
community, but he would continue to talk to donors
to try and resolve the country's economic problems.
According to the Ethiopian News Agency, Kabila also
announced that an international conference on the Great
Lakes region would soon be held in Kinshasa.

UNICEF expresses surprise over Kabila's accusations

UNICEF has expressed "great surprise" over
Kabila's accusations that it is helping rebels in eastern
DRC. During a visit to Goma this week, Kabila accused
UNICEF of "serving as a mailbox" for the
Mayi-Mayi rebels. A UNICEF spokeswoman told IRIN today
(Wednesday) the agency was holding high-level negotiations
with the DRC authorities. She said that on 4 March,
the military had arrested a UNICEF local staff member
in Goma who is still being detained. Later, UNICEF-Goma's
communication equipment was also confiscated, she added.
"These regrettable incidents come after UNICEF
has been working in this country for more than 36 years,"
she said. The Belgian daily 'Le Soir' yesterday reported
the arrest of the local staff member. "Relations
are tense because the UN agency is concerned over the
existence of some 18,000 child soldiers and would like
them to be rapidly demobilised," 'Le Soir' wrote.

Belgium accused of "insulting" DRC

The DRC foreign ministry has issued a press release
accusing Belgium of "insulting behaviour".
The statement, broadcast by DRC television yesterday,
expressed "deep indignation" over comments
by Belgian Foreign Minister Eric Derycke after Congo
had accused Belgium of stashing weapons at its consulate
in Lubumbashi. It deplored Belgium's "constant
will to interfere in the DRC's domestic affairs",
adding that Congo wanted to pursue cooperation with
Belgium and hoped it would continue to finance its
three-year development programme.

BURUNDI: Human rights report accuses both sides of killing

A report by Human Rights Watch today accused both sides
in the Burundi conflict of killing civilians. According
to AFP, it said Hutu rebels had summarily executed
civilians and looted their property, forcing them to
cultivate crops to feed rebel troops and leaving people
without an adequate food supply. Meanwhile, soldiers
had forced people into regroupment camps which were
ill-equipped and where thousands of people had died,
Human Rights Watch said, adding that troops were also
killing people in the camps.

CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE: Insecurity continues to plague Brazzaville

Sporadic shooting, frequent looting and banditry continue
to be reported in Brazzaville. According to humanitarian
sources, the insecurity is largely caused by ex-militiamen
who are resisting the government's disarmament and
demobilisation operation. As a result, much of Brazzaville's
civilian population stays indoors after the sun sets.
However, some improvement in the overall security situation
has been noted in the city over the past couple of
weeks.

Human rights group protests summary executions

A Congolese human rights group, L'Observatoire congolaise
des droits de l'homme (OCDH) has issued a public statement
to protest against summary executions and arbitrary
arrests of actual or supposed supporters of the defeated
Pascal Lissouba regime. The human rights violations
are being committed by armed men in military uniform,
the OCDH said.

New oil production facility to boost output by 20 percent

Meanwhile, President Sassou Nguesso inaugurated a new
AGIP oil production facility last month at Kitina near
Pointe-Noire. The facility, run in association with
Chevron and Hydro-Congo, is expected to increase Congo's
total oil production by about 20 percent according
to local media. The country now produces about 10.3
million mt of oil a year.

SUDAN: People fleeing fighting in Eastern Equatoria,
Western Upper Nile

According to the latest WFP Emergency Report, people
in Sudan's Eastern Equatoria province are leaving their
homes for refugee camps in Uganda and Kenya. Fighting
has also increased in Western Upper Nile, displacing
large numbers of people, and resulting in parts of
the province remaining inaccessible to WFP and Operation
Lifeline Sudan (OLS).

WFP warns funds needed to purchase food

The report adds that last week's clearance by Khartoum
for an expanded number of delivery sites adds to the
urgency for further funds to purchase food and non-food
supplies and to support additional aircraft to airlift
the supplies. WFP has received only US $7.3 million
out of a total of US $58.8 million requested under
the UN Inter-agency Consolidated Appeal for Sudan,
launched in February, which seeks a total of US $109
million to meet the emergency needs of more than four
million drought and war affected Sudanese.

UGANDA: Kampala bombing on eve of Clinton's visit -
minister

Ugandan rebels exploded a small home-made bomb in central
Kampala on the eve of US President Bill Clinton's visit,
Minister of State for Internal Affairs Tom Butime told
AFP on Wednesday. He said the bomb exploded on 23 March
at Platinum House, less than a kilometre from the Sheraton
Hotel, where Clinton stayed. The government had attributed
the explosion, which caused no casualties, to faulty
electrical wiring. The bomb "went off as planned,
but it was very mild," Butime said. He said the
device was planted by the Allied Democratic Forces
(ADF). He accused the rebel group of being behind a
series of explosions in Kampala, including Saturday's
attack on two hotel cafes. US diplomats have denied
that the explosion at Platinum House was a bomb.

Nairobi, 8 April 1998, 13:20 gmt

[ENDS]

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